04/18/24
September 12, 2012
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Notre Dame leaving the Big East for the ACC (in everything but football).
posted by Bonkers at 10:25 AM on September 12, 2012
Wow. Everything but football, except for the five games ND has to play against ACC opponents each year. And the Irish are saying they'll continue their annual games against USC, Stanford and Navy. I wonder what Michigan and Michigan State are thinking right now.
posted by Etrigan at 10:53 AM on September 12, 2012
That they're enjoying their cupcake conference schedule? (as an SEC fanboi, I somewhat kid)
posted by jmd82 at 11:14 AM on September 12, 2012
HAHAHAHAHAAAAhaaaa... Whoo. That was hilarious. Thanks for bringing such a bold and trenchant sense of humor to these proceedings. And the part where you say you "kid," making it clear that you're not just some schmuck who cannot allow any discussion of college football not to include something abut how the home conference of Vanderbilt and Kentucky is inherently more awesomer than everybody else ever always -- that was really the intellectual cherry on top of your keenly analytical sundae.
posted by Etrigan at 11:45 AM on September 12, 2012
I think that should be a good move for both ND and the ACC. ND over the last decade has become more of a perennial contender in sports other than football, especially basketball and lacrosse (maybe some others that I don't follow), so joining a conference that's a bit more competitive in other sports makes sense. Also, the Big East seems like it's getting hammered by all the teams switching conferences, so I can imagine ND wanting to jump ship. Big East basketball will certainly take a hit after Pitt and Syracuse leave. ACC gets a quality football opponent for a few non-conference games and another decent tournament-quality basketball team.
posted by LionIndex at 11:45 AM on September 12, 2012
You're the one who brings up a conference other than the ACC and you mock me?
posted by jmd82 at 02:18 PM on September 12, 2012
I brought up two teams who traditionally play Notre Dame (Michigan, 28 times since 1978 and the first night game ever at Michigan; Michigan State, 75 games overall). I didn't say anything about the Big Ten.
posted by Etrigan at 02:47 PM on September 12, 2012
posted by Hugh Janus at 03:38 PM on September 12, 2012
Moderator says relax.
posted by rcade at 09:01 PM on September 12, 2012
What does Frankie say?
posted by tommybiden at 09:36 PM on September 12, 2012
Shoot it in the right direction. Nothing about relaxing.
posted by NoMich at 09:41 PM on September 12, 2012
Andy Dirks: AL MVP. Yeah, I said it.
posted by NoMich at 10:38 PM on September 12, 2012
I prefer to relax in the asylum.
posted by jmd82 at 10:38 PM on September 12, 2012
Notre Dame leaving the Big East for the ACC (in everything but football).
Not quite!!! Unless Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, and such are about to put hockey teams on the ice, Notre Dame will skate in Hockey East this coming season. Of course, I would suspect that a significant percentage of those who follow collegiate sports don't realize that college hockey exists.
Florida State with a hockey team brings a strange idea to mind. Can you imagine the guy who rides the horse onto the football field to plant a spear trying to do the same thing onto the ice? If the horse were able to remain upright, what chance would the guy have to get that spear to stick in the ice?
posted by Howard_T at 11:17 PM on September 12, 2012
/At least in front of the cameras.
posted by owlhouse at 11:21 PM on September 12, 2012
Can you imagine the guy who rides the horse onto the football field to plant a spear trying to do the same thing onto the ice?
I assume he'd simply ride a zamboni with a horse painted on the side.
posted by grum@work at 11:29 PM on September 12, 2012
Is hockey the only (or just the largest) college sport that's so fractured from the conferences we all think of when we think college sports?
posted by Etrigan at 12:30 AM on September 13, 2012
Is hockey the only (or just the largest) college sport that's so fractured from the conferences we all think of when we think college sports?
College Gymnastics can get weird, too. You basically have no conferences, and all the power teams scheduling each other.
Re: Michigan and Michigan State (and Purdue, too): probably sad about the loss of these important, traditional rivalries, and then realizing this opens up opportunities for guaranteed (thus, highly profitable) home dates with some wonderful and delicious cupcakes.
posted by Bonkers at 01:03 AM on September 13, 2012
Re: Michigan and Michigan State (and Purdue, too): probably sad about the loss of these important, traditional rivalries, and then realizing this opens up opportunities for guaranteed (thus, highly profitable) home dates with some wonderful and delicious cupcakes.
I'm in the camp that thinks the post-BCS selection committee is going to cut way down on paycheck games. The new version of "cupcake" will be a potentially good power-conference team where you hope they're not at the top of their wave form. So UCLA, Auburn, Iowa and Clemson will be getting a lot of calls, but not so much Minnesota, Colorado, Vanderbilt or Duke. You'll get one MAC/Sun Belt game to lead off the season and knock the rust off, but even then, it'll be a good one. Coaches and ADs won't want to be at the end of a 12-1 conference championship season and have people pointing out that their 84-0 Savannah State win in week 1 wasn't as good as someone else going 12-1 and beating Ohio by 6 in September.
posted by Etrigan at 10:33 AM on September 13, 2012
Is hockey the only (or just the largest) college sport that's so fractured from the conferences we all think of when we think college sports?
Lacrosse is kind of odd - until recently, when teams outside of the mid-Atlantic states have started to have good teams, all the decent ones usually played each other over the course of the season, even though there were technically conferences. Soon, the ACC will almost corner the market on power lacrosse teams with the addition of Syracuse and ND; they've already got Duke, UNC, Maryland, and Virginia. All they're missing is Hopkins, maybe Loyola, Princeton and Denver.
posted by LionIndex at 11:44 AM on September 13, 2012
The case for Ryan Braun for NL MVP.